Bourbonnais Township trustees and its highway commissioner are at odds over the purchase of a street sweeper.

At the board’s May 18 meeting, trustees opted to make no motion to allow payment for the sweeper purchased by Highway Commissioner Jason Diaz.

The purchase price for the street sweeper was approximately $330,000. The board of trustees has not approved the bill.

They asked Diaz to provide them with a signed document, either a bill of sale or a proposal, before approving.

According to the Township Officials of Illinois, the board has “an obligation to approve all legally incurred bills to the extent that there is an appropriation in the road district budget for the expenditure and that the proper order for payment has been submitted by the highway commissioner and countersigned by the township clerk.”

However, the board has “an obligation to reject payment of any road district bills that are not legally incurred debts.”

That is why the board did not approve the purchase. There was no signed documentation, whether a bill of sale or proposal.

It will be taken up at the board’s June 15 meeting. It starts at 6:30 p.m. at the township office located at the intersection of Mooney Drive and Armour Road.

The board argued that the money to purchase the street sweeper must come out of the building and equipment fund; Diaz wants to pay for the vehicle through the permanent road fund, which is used for the construction, maintenance and repair of hard-surfaced or graveled public roadways. It restricts the use of allocated money strictly to infrastructure upkeep.

Diaz argues that the street sweeper helps maintain the roads of the township.

“The board’s job is to make sure I am doing things the correct way. I have no issue,” Diaz said during an interview last month.

Supervisor Jeff Umphrey said the board is just doing what the statute requires.

“We’re just doing what the statute says, and we just want to know. We need documents that are signed, whether they’re a proposal or whether they’re an actual prepared document,” Umphrey said. “If you go back to the early meetings, we didn’t know that he bought these things until after the fact. [Jason] didn’t bring it to the board and get an opinion or discussion from the board. Even though we may or may not have authority to say this or that. But at least you can ask an opinion of several people that have been around.”

Diaz said he talked to about 25 other highway commissioners who agreed with him.

“I’ve talked to no less than 25 highway commissioners that use the permanent road fund to pay for equipment,” Diaz said.

Before the purchase of the Elgin Pelican sweeper, the township borrowed one from either the Village of Bourbonnais or the Village of Bradley, Umphrey said.

Umphrey has served as trustee and supervisor for more than 20 years.

According to an email Diaz supplied to the Daily Journal, he sent it to trustees for the November 2025 meeting because he was unable to attend. He gave the trustees an update on his department.

“I have also purchased a street sweeper via a Sourcewell contract with Standard Equipment. This is a much needed addition to our fleet as we have to rely on Bourbonnais village to clean our roads when they have time,” Diaz said in the email. “Now that we have our own, we will be cleaning our neighborhoods at least once a month and when snow season starts, after every storm to get the salt off the road.”

The sweeper is used on subdivisions located in unincorporated areas in the township.

Diaz explained in a social media post before the May 18 meeting.

“We maintain multiple subdivisions – Turnberry, Arrowhead, Riverhaven, Riverside Country Estates, and Woodhaven – along with additional residential roads throughout the township. This equipment supports the actual scope of work we are responsible for,” Diaz said. “These are some of the highest-taxed properties in the county. Residents are paying significant taxes, and the least I can do is invest in equipment that will last the next 25 years and help extend the life of their vehicles and our roads.”

Diaz said he used Sourcewell to purchase the sweeper.

Sourcewell is an organization that helps government agencies, offering cooperative purchasing that helps reduce costs, save time, and streamline procurement.

For now, Diaz said to trustees he is paying for the sweeper through a loan from First Trust Bank of Illinois, which has a branch in Bourbonnais.

Umphrey asked Diaz how he was going to pay off the loan.

Diaz said he would put the total amount of the loan in the Fiscal Year 2027 road budget.

However, during the May 18 meeting, Diaz said he could take his argument to the courts in a civil lawsuit. The road district is represented by attorney Erik Reck. He was retained by Diaz.

While the township has counsel in attorney Sean Conway, Diaz did not want a conflict of interest, he said.

Peck, a longtime attorney with experience in township government, said he sees merit in possible litigation.

When asked if there is a gray area in the statute, Peck said:

“My opinion, yes, over the years it’s an area that, as was pointed out, there’s multiple uses for it. So it’s the township’s determination that it’s not a warranted expense. The highway commissioner has a different opinion.”

Asked if that was something that could lead to legal action, Peck said: “Certainly, that’s how case law is made.”